Advice on wire traces for pike fishing

PIKE wire is essential for constructing pike traces, as even a modest little jack pike will sever through the thickest of monofilament or braided lines with ease.  

Even if other predators such as perch are on the agenda, wire should still be used as you can’t prevent pike grabbing small lures or baits intended for something less toothy!

Wire trace materials have come a long way in recent years. Long gone is the horrid stiff wire of old, which would kink and rust, resulting in drastically reduced breaking strains.

Today’s pike fans now have an impressive choice of materials to choose from with tightly woven seven strand wire being the most versatile and popular choice.

Multi strand wires offer superior strength, durability, and vastly improved suppleness and kink resistance. In fact, the more strands the better.

Wires constructed with up to 49 individual wires are available which are virtually totally kink resistant, and are also extremely soft, limp and perfect for wily crocs that see a lot of angling pressure.

Other wires worth considering are multi strand varieties which have a protective coating, to help withstand damage from all those super sharp teeth. They definitely help to prolong the life of a trace and are far less prone to kinking.

Carboflex, made by Fox for example, has a coating of carbon, making it super tough.

Middy manufacture an excellent kevlar coated wire which has a lower than average diameter for its breaking strain, making it tops for delicate presentations.